Home / Dynamic Growth of California Wine Country Home Rentals Supports Findings of New TIA Culinary Travel

Dynamic Growth of California Wine Country Home Rentals Supports Findings of New TIA Culinary Travel Survey

BeautifulPlaces Reports Record 2007 Bookings

20 February 2007 -- The Travel Industry Association's survey on Culinary Travel came as no surprise to BeautifulPlaces, the Sonoma-based company that specializes in epicurean travel and wine country home rentals. "Our bookings are up nearly 200% this year as California is the #1 destination for food and wine related travel in the U.S.," commented BeautifulPlaces, founder and president Patrick Smith. "Four years ago we profiled this market segment and created a travel platform designed solely to satisfy the very specific aspirations and passions of this market."

The TIA study identified the roughly 27 million general U.S. culinary travelers and the four million serious travelers who have actively participated in both food and wine-related travel, noting that culinary travel has reached the tipping point as a niche industry.

BeautifulPlaces (http://www.beautiful-places.com) has identified five different vacation lifestyles goals of these travelers:

Culinary Adventures
Highly customized experiential activities from the art of food and wine pairing or consultations on personal cellars to participating in the grape harvest and side-by-side cooking with a chef.

Wine EducationThese travelers are passionate and eager to learn about wine. BeautifulPlaces satisfies this yearning by pairing guests with experts in the field of viticulture who take them through the entire wine production process: grape growing, harvesting, blending, and bottling.

Feel Like a Native"Insider" knowledge is coveted -- culinary travelers place a premium on getting the inside scoop -- where to buy homemade crafts; up and coming winemakers not yet on the map; local street fairs; pet-friendly restaurants; etc.

Something to Brag About
Affluent culinary travelers want something 'over the top,' something to brag about. A stay in a drop-dead gorgeous mountainside villa, a custom-blended barrel, tickets to trade-only wine auctions, and celebrity chefs are the new conversation stoppers.

Shared Social Activities
People who love food and drink enjoy sharing the experience with friends, family and colleagues. The serious culinary traveler prefers to cook special dishes with local ingredients, pour wines they've selected at local vineyards and enjoy the informality and privacy of a villa rental.

BEAUTIFULPLACES was founded four years ago by seasoned marketing professionals, Patrick Smith and Liza Graves. "A large segment of the affluent travel market is passionate about food and wine, and we created a luxury travel model tailored especially to them," reflected Smith. "In addition to offering them a portfolio of personalized estate rentals in California's top wine regions, our concierge service creates custom itineraries and exclusive services to satisfy their every wish. It's like having a friend in wine country."

BeautifulPlaces recently expanded their villa portfolio to include chateaux and wine estates in France including Chateau Villette made famous in The DaVinci Code.

To view homes and epicurean experience go to http://www.beautiful-places.com